Dharam Sansad case: Relief for Yati Narsinghanand, granted bail in Haridwar hate speech case

While granting him bail on Monday, additional district and sessions judge Bharat Bhushan Pandey said that “the offences said to have been committed by the accused are punishable with up to three years of imprisonment. In such cases, bail is a rule and jail is an exception. So, he deserved the bail”.

Dasna temple chief priest Yati Narsinghanand Yati Narsinghanand, an accused in the Dharam Sansad hate speech case, was granted bail by the additional district and sessions court in Haridwar. Narsinghanand was arrested in connection with the case on January 15, nearly a month after he organised a Dharam Sansad in Haridwar where alleged provocative speeches were delivered against Muslims.

While granting him bail on Monday, additional district and sessions judge Bharat Bhushan Pandey said that “the offences said to have been committed by the accused are punishable with up to three years of imprisonment. In such cases, bail is a rule and jail is an exception. So, he deserved the bail”.

The court further noted that “Narsinghanand had no criminal history as he had so far never been convicted in any cases. Besides, the FIR against him was registered on the complaint made by the informant who was not present at the event”.

Additional District and Sessions judge Bharat Bhushan Pandey granted bail to Narsinghanand after a virtual hearing in the case on Monday. The bail has been granted to Narsinghanand with certain conditions.

The court has asked him not to deliver any speech which can disrupt social harmony. It has also restrained Narsinghanand from becoming part of any group or event with an aim to create discord among different communities. He will also have to respond to summons by the investigating officer in the case. Narsinghanand will not intimidate the witnesses in the case directly or indirectly nor would go abroad without the court’s permission, it said.

There were four cases registered against Narsinghanand. The first was under IPC section 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language etc, and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony). In this case, he was a co-accused with Jitendra Narayan Tyagi (alias Waseem Rizvi) and eight others charged with hate speech at the religious conclave in Haridwar from December 17 to 19.